Over & Under Landing Light

[Kyle Boatright]

I've never really been happy with the landing light situation on my RV-6. The problem began when I only put a landing light in one wing. A light in each wing would have been much better, but once the airplane was finished (and painted), I couldn't bear to the thought of ruining the paint on that wing to install another light. So I tried a couple of different lighting solutions - both homebrewed and from the factory. In the end, I found that the lights that gave me long range visibility down the runway didn't have a wide enough light pattern to be effective taxi lights. And lights that worked well as taxi lights were not particularly good as landing lights.

So I came up with the idea of using two lights in one wing - a landing light side by side with a taxi light. The next step was to e-mail my friends at Duckworks to see if they had lamps that were appropriate. Their response was that, no, they didn't have appropriate lamps for a side by side installation, but they had toyed with the idea of an over and under installation using a mounting bracket which allowed a round taxi light located above a rectangular landing light.

I said sign me up and chose a 35W HID taxi light mounted above a 55W HID landing light.

And here's what they sent:



Essentially, a standard Duckworks mount, plus two lamps, ballasts, and a pattern for how to cut the mount to hold the lamps.

A few hours in the shop converted the pile 'o parts to this:



Which looked like this from the back:



It was a tight fit installing the assembly through the lens opening, but it was doable. At first, I ran both lamps off of one 14 gauge wire, but later I used the 14 gauge wire to pull a pair of 16 gauge wires. The 14 gauge just didn't have the ability to supply the inrush current to reliably fire up both power supplies.

After the wiring change, the results are spectacular. Now I have the best of both worlds. A spotlight to illuminate the runway centerline from far away, and a floodlight to add depth perception in the flare and to provide taxi visibility.

I'm very, very pleased with this installation and recommend it for any of you who are not-quite-satisfied with your current light situation.

Right now, I've got the only one of these in the world. But if you called or e-mailed Duckworks (duckworks@comcast.net) , they just might make one for you...

[N395V]

Nice solution to a real problem.

[frankh]

did the kits cost you?

[Kyle Boatright]

Originally Posted by frankh

did the kits cost you?

Frank,

It has been long enough since I purchased the lights (a couple of months), that I don't remember the exact price. If I recall correctly, it was a little less than what you'd get if you added up the components from their website:

Blank leading edge light installation kit: $60
low cost 50 W leading edge lamp (rectangular): $160
low cost 35 W replacement MR-16 lamp : $130

Total: $350.

I may have saved a few bucks because I didn't need a new landing light lens. I also re-used the reflector from my old halogen light.

[nucleus]

Hey, one could put that setup in both wings...

[Kyle Boatright]

Originally Posted by nucleus

Hey, one could put that setup in both wings...

Actually, I think that's a great idea. Turning night into day is a neat thing on a runway...

[frankh]

I landed a few nights ago and was thinking.."y'know I wonder if my landing lights even work anymore"..Only to find both halogen bulbs had blown.

Other than taxiing it didn't seem to make a difference..

The biggest value to me is making my airplane visible on approach by using a wig wag system.

Frank

[nucleus]

For me the best thing about landing lights is to see the deer on the runway.

Hans